The demand for absorbable fibers which can be processed into structures such as sutures, dressings, hemostats etc. has been increasing extensively over the past decade. The use of catgut sutures is therefore waning. Consequently, the manufacture of absorbable synthetic fibers has been materially increased and methods of improving such manufacturing techniques has been the subject of continued and extensive research.
Glycolic acid polymer fibers have received wide recognition in recent years and, as such, the demand therefor has increased proportionately. As a result, new processing and manufacturing facilities have been erected and existing facilities have been expanded. Short of these two solutions to the problem of meeting the demand has been the revision and up-grading of the technology in the existing manufacturing procedures. In the manufacture of glycolic acid polymer sutures, many steps must be followed between the polymer production, through fiber manufacture and finally to the finished medical product, e.g. a suture. One of the primary problems in the fiber manufacture has been the increasingly large volume of material produced which must be discarded. An unusually large amount of material falls into this category because the products possess too many flaws, slubs, neps etc. resulting from passage of the fiber through the processing machinery e.g. braiding apparatus etc. Additionally, a problem has also existed with regard to the final washing of the filaments and on braids, etc., produced (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,600,223) wherein water-washing, as it is known with regard to most other fibrous materials, is replaced by ultrasonic solvent washing because of the sensitivity of the glycolic acid polymer fiber to water.
In the past, processing problems of the type described above with regard to textile treating have been solved by applying lubricants to the fibers being processed, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,575,576; 3,101,990; 3,568,279. While these additive finishes solved the processing problems of the art, they nevertheless generally created more of a problem subsequent to the processing steps because the finishes added then had to be removed. If, however, water did not remove these additives, various manipulative procedures had to be followed such as adding detergents or subjecting the fiber to more than one bath. As mentioned above, however, water washing cannot be effected in glycolic acid polymer sutures.